Sienna Limited FWD with PCS (Dynamic Laser Cruise)

[looknow12]

I live in the Connecticut area near NYC. I have spoken to a couple of dealers that have stated the pre-colision option does not exist in my area.

Anyone know this to be true? I am willing to wait for this vehicle.

Thank you,

[akphs]

Originally Posted by looknow12

I live in the Connecticut area near NYC. I have spoken to a couple of dealers that have stated the pre-colision option does not exist in my area.

Anyone know this to be true? I am willing to wait for this vehicle.

Go to the website, enter your ZIP, and try to configure it. That will tell you.

[looknow12]

Originally Posted by akphs

Go to the website, enter your ZIP, and try to configure it. That will tell you.

Oh it does show the feature

[skinny2]

Just because the Toyota site says it's available...doesn't mean they'll actually build one like that and ship it there. Even if the dealer "orders" it, doesn't mean it will ever get built. I've waited six months before on other vehicles and finally gave up. Perhaps your dealer can arrange a trade for someone in a region that is getting them built the way you want. Or you can just go to another region and buy one. Pretty easy to search the web for what you want these days.

[looknow12]

I'm told that because of the struggles Toyota has had over the last several months (Japan earthquake), they are making less variations of the Sienna. I guess PCS is not popular so they stopped building them until they get up to full production.

[looknow12]

To all dealers, does anyone have this vehicle nationally?

[akphs]

Originally Posted by looknow12

To all dealers, does anyone have this vehicle nationally?

...these vehicles HAVE been built, at least at times -- there's one in my garage. But we started looking in January 2011, found exactly ONE in the DC area. We drove and loved the vehicle, but it was Blizzard Pearl, which my wife hated. Then we got distracted, and a few months later I happened to think "Hey" and looked, and lo! there was a Predawn Mica at Fitzmall.com (no, they have none now, I looked). Bought it the next day.

Pedantic note: This thread is misnamed: PCS isn't adaptive cruise, though I suspect it's linked to it. And the adaptive cruise is radar-based, not laser.

The adaptive cruise is visible externally because of the shield in the middle of the grille. With the threshold of a new owner, I've been looking at every new Sienna I pass. In five months (albeit only a bit over 3K miles) I've seen exactly ONE other with the AT package. (And it was Blizzard Pearl--I said, "I bet I've driven that car!")

Suggestion: call dealerships in Indianapolis. Last time I looked, they could order with AT, and one might imagine they'd understand the pipeline better than Joe Random Dealer in East BFE somewhere.

[looknow12]

Originally Posted by akphs

...these vehicles HAVE been built, at least at times -- there's one in my garage. But we started looking in January 2011, found exactly ONE in the DC area. We drove and loved the vehicle, but it was Blizzard Pearl, which my wife hated. Then we got distracted, and a few months later I happened to think "Hey" and looked, and lo! there was a Predawn Mica at Fitzmall.com (no, they have none now, I looked). Bought it the next day.

Pedantic note: This thread is misnamed: PCS isn't adaptive cruise, though I suspect it's linked to it. And the adaptive cruise is radar-based, not laser.

The adaptive cruise is visible externally because of the shield in the middle of the grille. With the threshold of a new owner, I've been looking at every new Sienna I pass. In five months (albeit only a bit over 3K miles) I've seen exactly ONE other with the AT package. (And it was Blizzard Pearl--I said, "I bet I've driven that car!")

Suggestion: call dealerships in Indianapolis. Last time I looked, they could order with AT, and one might imagine they'd understand the pipeline better than Joe Random Dealer in East BFE somewhere.

I think if you get the PCS option it is linked to the cruise control. Meaning Pre-Collision won't come without adaptive cruise. I thought Toyota used laser and Lexus used radar. I know the Sequoia uses Laser which is frustrating because in snowy areas it gets dirt on it and stops functioning with a message. My understanding is radar won't do that.

[akphs]

Originally Posted by looknow12

I think if you get the PCS option it is linked to the cruise control. Meaning Pre-Collision won't come without adaptive cruise. I thought Toyota used laser and Lexus used radar. I know the Sequoia uses Laser which is frustrating because in snowy areas it gets dirt on it and stops functioning with a message. My understanding is radar won't do that.

Toyota USED to use laser. All the reviews, Toyota literature, etc. say the 2011 uses radar. I don't have a cat to see if it chases the laser, or a radar detector to see if it uses radar so I'm going with the literature. Hmm, I s'pose I could put a piece of cardboard over it and see if it stops working.

[skinny2]

I'm sure the pre-collision and radar cruise go hand-in-hand which is why it's all lumped into one package. I think it's a nice package but not a must-have on my list. I probably would have passed on it if given a choice but the one we wanted had it. i don't care for the radar cruise at all and it's been in the off position for quite some time.

[skinny2]

The feature is called "Dynamic Radar Cruise Control" so I'm going with radar

[looknow12]

Originally Posted by skinny2

I'm sure the pre-collision and radar cruise go hand-in-hand which is why it's all lumped into one package. I think it's a nice package but not a must-have on my list. I probably would have passed on it if given a choice but the one we wanted had it. i don't care for the radar cruise at all and it's been in the off position for quite some time.

I've used it before, and for highway driving in a busier area it is awesome. You don't have to reset the cruise control over and over again. On the Sequoia it works great.

[skinny2]

I would never use cruise in a busy area anyway but that's obviously just a driver style issue. If it works for you , great. I have tried it out on the open road where I run cruise and it gets a little goofy with curves and hills. Also, I constantly must reset the distance as even the minimum is not minimum enough to suit me once traffic bunches up. I usually have to kick it off which means resetting the distance once traffic clears. But I'm more of a control freak anyway when it comes to driving and not a fan of the car doing my job entirely.

I'm surprised with this package that it doesn't have a blind-spot warning of some sort. Doesn't seem Toyota has rolled this out like other manufacturers. I don't have a problem with it on the Sienna but my wife refuses to adjust her mirrors...for some reason she needs to see the back of HER car when driving. At least it has memory settings on the mirrors.